Former State Senator Leibell's Chief Of Staff Faces DWI Charge

Raymond MaguirePhoto Credit: Putnam County Sheriff's OfficeVincent Leibell, a Republican who served parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties as a state senator and assemblyman for 28 years, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in 2011.Photo Credit: File photo

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PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. - Former Sen. Vincent Leibell's chief of staff is back in legal hot water.

Raymond Maguire, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the investigation that sent Leibell to prison, was arrested and charged with DWI in Patterson last month after a fellow motorist contacted the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to report an erratic driver on Route 22.

The Sheriff’s Office received a cell phone call from a motorist shortly before 11 p.m. on June 17, claiming that there was an erratically driven vehicle spotted turning off Route 22 onto Route 311 in Patterson.

A sheriff’s deputy who was on patrol at the time spotted the car a few minutes later, crossing back-and-forth over the double yellow lines on Route 311.

Maguire was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated, which the Sheriff’s Office noted could be punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in Carmel Town Justice Court later this year.

In 2011, Maguire was sentenced to four months in prison after admitting to obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into whether Leibell had a corrupt relationship with a contractor that was building him a new home.

Maguire began working for Leibell in 2003 and was Chief of Staff for Leibell from 2005 until Dec. 2010 when Leibell resigned.

Leibell, a Republican, served parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess as both a state senator and assemblyman for 28 years.

After becoming aware of the pending federal investigation into Leibell, Maguire approached the contractor and directed him to “clean up the paper” in connection with the work he had done on Leibell’s house according to the Justice Department.

Maguire instructed the contractor to create phony, backdated invoices to make it appear as though Leibell had paid for the full value of the services rendered by the contractor, when he had received well below market rates, according to the Justice Department.

Maguire further instructed the contractor to falsely tell the government that the reason there was a delay in Leibell’s payment to the contractor was that they had entered into a payment plan. Maguire also instructed the contractor to take the scheme to obstruct the pending grand jury investigation “to the grave," according to the Justice Department.